The Amazon founder, and the third richest person in the world, has agreed to pay $68 million for a property on Indian Creek, a man-made barrier island near Miami, Florida. (Mega Agency)
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced that he is leaving Seattle after nearly 30 years and returning to the warmth of Miami.
Bezos, 59, announced he was leaving the e-commerce giant’s hometown via an emotional Instagram post late Thursday, which was accompanied by an old video of him giving a tour of the company’s first office in Seattle.
The billionaire businessman, who grew up in Miami, wrote that he is making a big shift back to the Sunshine State to be closer to his parents who recently moved back there.
Bezos also mentioned that operations of Blue Origin – his space exploration company – are increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and that he and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez “love” Miami.
Jeff Bezos buys $68 million mansion in exclusive ‘billionaire’s hideaway’ in Miami
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez attend the world premiere of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on Tuesday, August 30, 2022. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Seattle has been my home since 1994 when I built Amazon out of my garage,” Bezos wrote below the video.
“I’ve lived in Seattle longer than I have lived anywhere else and have so many great memories here. As exciting as this move is, it’s an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you’ll always have a piece of my heart.”
SPACE RACE: VIRGIN GALACTIC, SPACEX, and BLUE ORIGIN AGAIN
Jeff Bezos talks about his journey aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft into space during a press conference on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The video shows Bezos giving a tour of the compact office space, which consists of three desks filled with paper and a large whiteboard. The desk is so modest that an external cable cord attached to the wall is used to pump more power into the workstation.
“It doesn’t take long to tour the offices of Amazon.com, Inc,” Bezos says with a smile, as a dog barks in the background.
His father, filming the scene, was a little more enthusiastic, saying: “We’re in the nerve center!”
Amazon later went on to dominate the e-commerce industry and became one of the largest companies in the world. Bezos is the third richest man in the world with a net worth of about $156 billion, according to Bloomberg.
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Bezos’ announcement comes just two weeks after he purchased a $79 million mansion on the exclusive “Billionaire Bunker” Island in Florida. The site is located next to a $68 million property he acquired two months ago.
The island is also home to supermodel Adriana Lima, real estate mogul Jeff Soffer, singer-songwriter Julio Iglesias and car sales mogul Norman Braman.
The move could also benefit Bezos financially if he sells Amazon shares, since Florida, unlike Washington, does not have a capital gains tax. Washington recently imposed a 7% tax on the sale of financial assets.
Neither Washington nor Florida have state income taxes.
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